The Rogue River is one of my favorite multi-day river trips. I spent many spring seasons guiding groups down this river. While Stark already had a Rogue river trip under his belt, this summer we were able to take both Della and Huck on their very first river trip, 5 days on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River, Alameda Bar to Foster Bar.
The trip started out a little rocky with a blown trailer tire on on the drive down. We spent an unanticipated night in Eugene as Stark tracked down an apparently very popular sized tire. Nothing like leaving a trailer full of many thousands $$$ in rafting gear sitting on the side of the road for a few hours to peak a girls anxiety.
Della & Huck spent much of the rig-up 'entertaining' themselves the boat rowed by 2 young 20-something fellows named Nick.
Parents on Day-1
A portion of our motley crew. 2 boats and 1 kayak not shown. As we hadn't been able to snag a permit, we found ourselves tagging along with a good friend Jason Davis and his extended family. At 18 people we were a large group for the Rogue which caps out at 21 people per trip.
Rowing lessons.
Pirate on Guard.
Day One - Graves Creek Bridge - Entering the Wild & Scenic Section
Obligatory Water fights.
More rowing lessons.
Della & Rowan under Barbie & Jason's very capable supervision.
Our 2 plus Rowan, exploring one of the old cabins.
Using our dirty toes to fish for crawdads ... and our faces to bait mosquitoes.
Our diligent map reader.
Navigators on duty.
More rowing lessons ... got to start them young.
Classic afternoon at camp, feet in the water and fingers around a beer. Della had all the camp elders, and young men, wrapped around her little fingers. She was definitely the bell of the ball.
Eddy-line swimming lessons.
Miss-Fabulous before he learned that the other kids would play with him, if he asked, and didn't throw things.
How to sleep without a sleeping pad, or a sleeping bag ... one pooped boy.
Day 2 parents.
The novelty is wearing off. Tired faces.
My boys.
Rowing Lessons.
Learning to chill on the boat.
Endless snacks to keep up their energy ... and mood.
Afternoon camp life ... feet in the water ...
The Elders entertaining Della ... this group was awesome with the kiddos.
Snack time.
Della and her new BF, tall Nick.
Drunk Daddies.
Poor princess has a sliver in her foot.
River kiddos
Morning green juice. We kept our routine, and our poops, on schedule.
Della really ramped up her swimming skills during the trip.
Classic family picture.
Stair Creek Falls!
He took a nap in my arms!! For a brief moment he was my baby boy again.
Daring big kiddos braving Tate creek falls. Della hiked up with us but bad mommy wouldn't let her try ... maybe next year ... or the year after.
River evening.
Porter - Davis Kiddos 2017.
River camp ... sleeping in kayaks.
Salamander hunting in Tate Creek.
Stark Naked Family 2017
Morning load-up ... onward down the river.
Kayak practice
Flora Dell Falls
Flora Dell jumping rocks ... mama you first ...
Final push ... soaking up the sun.
Entertaining themselves while the grownup load up the gear.
The new trailer tires survived the shuttle.
Rinsing off in Coos Bay ... hotels pools ... worth their weight in gold!
A quick stop on the Oregon Coast as we headed home.
No final parent picture ... 5 days later and we're too tired to get in the same frame together.
All in All it was a Very Successful river trip.
There was lots of swimming, jumping, digging, playing, rowing, eating, sleeping, star gazing, bear spotting, poison oak dodging, sunblock applying, water drinking, river peeing, hiking, Frisbee throwing, water gun spraying, and so much more.
We were very impressed with Huck's bravery facing the rapids and the river winds. Considering our recent scary wind experience in Hawaii we weren't sure what to expect but he was a trooper and proved to be a true river kiddo. Next year we'll forget the diapers and do a bit more swimming!
Della ... you would never have know this was her first rafting trip. She excelled at all aspects of rafting ... including pooping in the groover and river peeing ... both very important river guide skills.
We're already looking forward to the 2018 River Adventure.